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Mining and logging threaten a wildlife wonderland on a Philippine mountain Mount Busa on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao is among the most biodiverse and most threatened ecological areas in the country. It’s a key biodiversity area and a known bird conservation area, considered one of the last remaining strongholds of the critically endangered and nationally important Philippine eagle (Phitecophaga jefferyi). Despite its ecological importance, the mountain has enjoyed little protection, with only the topmost slopes falling under a local conservation zone. To protect the area, env...

It’s well known that the Philippines is a biodiversity hotspot, its 7641 islands holding a vast array of flora and fauna, many yet unrecorded, all of them rapidly disappearing. But despite this being common knowledge, the importance of this doesn’t usually hit home until a new species is discovered.

Yvette Natalie Tan The Busa Mountain Range (BMR) straddles the provinces of Sarangani and South Cotabato in southern Mindanao. According to Kier Mitchel E. Pitogo, resident wildlife biologist and project development officer of the PASu AVPL, “it is one of the last remaining primary forests in the region.” A primary forest is a forest whose ecology hasn’t been disturbed by human activity and thus, contains flora and fauna native to the region. Pitologo recently assisted Aljohn Jay Saavedra, resident botanist and Forest Extension Officer of the Protected Area Superintendent office of the ...

(Photo from USAID Philippines) The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Philippines has commended biologists Kier Mitchel Pitogo and Aljohn Jay Saavedra for rediscovering a rare frog that was last seen almost three decades ago. The brightly colored Guttman’s stream frogs were believed to be extinct until they were rediscovered living in the forest of Mount Busa. They were first seen in the wild in 1993. “USAID supports Filipino scientists who are making discoveries in Philippine biodiversity,” the agency said in a statement posted on Facebook March 12. “Deep in t...

Rare frog thought to be extinct rediscovered in Mindanao Published March 12, 2021 11:18am A pair of Filipino biologists has rediscovered in Mindanao a rare frog species that was thought to be extinct decades ago. Guttman's stream frog ( Pulchrana guttmani), first seen in  1993, was rediscovered by Kier Mitchel Pitogo and Aljohn Jay Saavedra in the forests of Mount Busa, according to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Guttman's stream frog is "an amphibian so rare, it was thought to be extinct for decades since it was first recorded," USAID said in a Fa...